Only His Echo Remains
by Unnoticed Silence
Summary: I think everyone hates my best friend, Echopaw. He tries to talk to someone, but no one will hear him out. But I listen. I'll listen even if his mentor, Cherryfrost, won't. Adopted from Kira, Queen of Darkness. Rated 'T' cause I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own warriors. Again, belongs to the six Erin Hunters. I don't even own the plot. That belongs to Kira- Queen of Darkness. Yeah, I was out of ideas. **

**Rawr: Awww! Why are all your stories these days depressing?**

**Me: Not ALL! Call Me Maybe Castle Style, Souplings isn't! **

**Rawr: Your update is. **

**Me: This was Kira's idea. I just gave it a home. **

**Rawr: Whatever. T_T. **

Once me and my best friend, Echopaw, reached seven moons moons old, everyone started to block him out. There were always the murmurings. The murmurings of him being sick. But after about a moon of half-training, he got better. But that's about when the murmuring stopped. The hollow became more silent.

They were grieving. But Echopaw and I were the only ones who didn't know why.

And there was the sadness in the eyes of his mother, Whisperingfeather. Echopaw didn't know it, didn't get why his mother was so sad. Did he do something wrong?

Even his mentor, Cherryfrost, wouldn't talk to him. Or listen to him, either.

But that was OK. I could talk to him. We still played together, hunted together, and ate together. No one would talk to him, though. Not even his crush, Frostpaw.

And whenever I tried to ask anyone in RiverClan about ignoring him, they looked at me, confused. "Echopaw? Why would he be talking to us?" they would answer. A question for a question. Why would no one hear him out?

"Why does everyone hate me, Ashpaw? What did I do wrong?" Echopaw whimpered one day, when Cherryfrost turned away and went to go get a carp, not saying a word to him, while he tried to give her the frog he caught.

"I don't know, Echopaw. I just don't know."

**Me: this means I'm working on two FanFiction stories, plus my other book. I'm sorry if updates are slow. It's just that I have school, and two other fan fictions to work on, and the parodies, and I need to start WildFire, and to finish Not Necessarily Actually Guilty Per Say. So, you can say I'm booked. **

**Rawr: So go ahead and vote: what should Silence update first?**

**Me: I see what other FanFiction writers mean by 'in over their heads'. I'm thinking about putting WildFire up for adoption. So, if you've read icefall, and you want to write WildFire, just go ahead and ask for it. I'll do the usual, look at your writing, if not, write the prologue, bla, bla, bla. If it's a yes, I'll review on your newest story yes or no- and if yes, send you the plotline- feel free to change any details. **

**Rawr: yeah… She's way over her head. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's your low-priced disclaimer: Don't own the plot, or Warriors. Simple as that. Belongs to Kira and Erin Hunter. **

**Rawr: and here's the long-overdue chapter of Only His Echo Remains. We got FIVE reviews for chapter one! **

**Me: stupid school. **

**Rawr: middle school sucks. **

**Me: stupid. **

**Stupid. **

**Stupid.**

**I hate it. **

**Rawr: I realized that there's more serious stuff than funny stuff going on these days with us, and a lot of ranting, but it's just... Yeah. **

**So, if you want to be in an author's note, or have an idea for something for us to do, just comment. **

**Don't private message. **

**Me: So at the end of each chapter, we're going to have some kind of quote or something, usually funny. **

**Rawr: and now with the Long-Overdue chapter...**

StarClan came to me that night.

I'm not a medicine cat, or leader, or anyone special, they just came.

I can't explain it.

I won't even try.

_Ashpaw_. The name bounced around my consciousness, whispering it to me like it was a lifeline. Ashpaw. _Ashpaw. Ashpaw. _

And then the cats came, the starry warriors swirling among me, filling the Gathering place.

_Ashpaw. Ashpaw. Ashpaw. _

The different warriors mingled as one clan, talking and purring and sharing tongues.

_Ashpaw. Ashpaw. Ashpaw. _

I nosed my way through the merry figures, trying to find someone I knew.

_Ashpaw. Ashpaw. Ashpaw. _

I was following the sound of the echo, it getting louder as I got closer.

_Ashpaw. Ashpaw. Ashpaw. _

And then I saw him. I stopped in my tracks, dumbfounded. The echoes had stopped, and now I knew why.

There sat a half-filled form of my best friend, Echopaw.

**Me: Aaaannnddd that concludes chapter two! **

**Rawr: that also concludes my newest tie design! -holds up a tie with dead or dying fish on it- **

**Me: ...**

**Quote of the chapter: There are three kind of people in the world... The ones that can count, and the ones that can't. **

**R&R?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: Since it's been a while since I updated this, even though I said I'd do it awhile ago, I made this chapter extra-long. **

**I promise, promise, promise to update IOTCED next. I feel really bad about not updating, but school is taking up way too much time. **

**Rawr: Mr. Chorus teacher.. Please don't count Joey absent, he in the office and pregnant... **

**Me: OMG! I almost DIED laughing at that one! The office lady said 'present' but it sounded like 'pregnant' and then some kid goes, Joey's PREGNANT?! And everyone is like, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HE'S PREGNANT! **

**Rawr: Yeah... And since we had no clue what to do with not-really maximum ride, so...bye bye! **

**Me: But here's the newest chapter of OHER!**

**The Presently Pregnant Disclaimer: Still don't own warriors. Or, even this plot!**

I woke up the next morning, feeling like I didn't know where I was. Looking around, I saw that my nest had been destroyed, moss shredded and churned up.

Echopaw's nest remained untouched. Now, that didn't really surprise me, since I knew that he could never really touch it.

I padded outside, to find Echopaw sitting at the camp entrance, tail wrapped around his paws. He was staring off into the sunrise, his pale cream coat seeming transparent.

"Everyone is lost to me, Ashpaw. They all ignore me, now it's my turn to ignore them."

I didn't have the heart to tell him that he was dead to them- literally. That the whole of Echopaw was supposed to be in StarClan, not suspended between worlds. That it didn't matter if he walked through them.

That he was dead.

Echopaw turned to me. "What's wrong with me?" He whispered. "What did I do wrong?"

_Nothing_. I wanted to say, so bad. Just to tell him, just to-

Another echo of a cat appeared in the farthest part of the hollow. This one was a Silver she-cat, slender and pretty_. He needs to know._ The voice bounced around me._ It's his time. _

"No!" I shouted, trying to make the cat disappear. "No, he needs to stay here! He died too young!" I turned, fleeing camp, tail streaming behind me. No. He won't know. Not until he's ready.

But when will a dead cat accept that he's dead, if even he doesn't know it? When will that be OK? When? When will it? WHEN?

_Never._ The queen whispered in my mind._ You're the one who can see him. It's up to you now. _

I stopped running, skidding to a halt at the edge of the river.

And suddenly, I had a plan.

**Me: so, maybe this chapter didn't turn out as well as I hoped, it's almost seems like something out of Starkit's Prophecy. **

**Rawr: And to whoever had the idea of Echopaw being a part of Ashpaw's mind, that's not it. He's very, very real. **

**Echopaw: And invading your world, too! **

**Me: GAAHH! **

**Rawr: -waves wand- back to the warriors fanfiction! **

**Echopaw: -disappears- -cackles invisibly- **

**Me: Freaky...**

**Rawr: And sorry that it's almost been a month with no updates. You're just going to have to get used to it.**

**Quote if the chapter: Subway: Eat Flesh. **


	4. Chapter 4

**The Disclaimer of Disclaimer-ness!: No warriors owning for me! **

**Me: Yes, I am actually updating this! **

**Rawr: Yay. T_T.**

**Me: Yay! -huggles- **

**Rawr: can't...breathe...**

**Me: -lets go- sorry...**

**Rawr: You could have killed me! **

**Me: Rawr, you're immortal. Which is why you didn't die when Legolas knocked down the door onto you, then ran over you, then the SWAT team came through, then ran over you, again. **

**Rawr: You were Squished Face! It's your fault! **

**Me: -hides Squished Face puppet- no, I wasn't... **

**Rawr: yes, you were! **

**Me: Not Necessarily actually per say! **

**Rawr: YOU PER-SAYED! PER SAY IS BUILT ON LIES! **

**Me: you sound like Total. **

**Rawr: Dang it! **

I knew exactly what to do now. Everyone needed to hear it, everyone at the exact same time. I couldn't do anything until then, but when it was time, at the next Gathering, they would know. And then he would know. That even though he was dead, that he could let go, become part of StarClan. That StarClan would help him. That he could visit his mother again, never have to worry about sickness of death. That he would be whole again, not living with a paw in each world.

How could he accept that? My same thoughts crept back into my head, like the first chills of leaf-bare. This couldn't work- I would lose my best friend. He would lose me. He would go to StarClan, waiting for the day when we came to join him.

He died too young.

His mind was here, his soul in StarClan.

His soul was at home.

It was time for his mind to be there as well.

I walked as slowly as possible back to camp, half-heatedly catching a carp to give everyone an excuse for being out.

Echopaw was waiting for me, half-hidden by the shadows covering the side of the clearing bathed in darkness. His ashen grey pelt was perfectly blended in, making my name seem even more like a joke.

_Ashpaw. Who in their right mind would name a snow-white kit Ashpaw? _

_My mother. _Who lost her mind after my father was caught with a ShadowClan cat. Who then killed herself two moons later, jumping off of the cliff into the gorge.

Who the clan left to the one Queen who still had milk- the one who hated us for every reason, but no good one.

Echopaw was looking more and more see-through as I realized how everyone was trying to forget him. Soon, he would fade into StarClan, without any knowledge of why. They would tell him the the died many moons ago, and that I knew. Then he would hate me, I knew he would.

But until then, I would have to hide it from him. For five more days. Just five sunrises. I could do it.

Echopaw followed me over to the fresh-kill pile, as I picked up a frog and a minnow as well, handed him the carp, and together we brought the prey over to the elder's den. Two of the three Elders were asleep, and the third- Greypool, who always would tell the best stories when we were kits, back when Echopaw was alive and we would play-fight, bugging his father to teach us some fighting moves, trying to sneak out of camp, stay up late at night and try and count all of Silverpelt.

If only those days would last.

Greypool looked surprised, and I realized why: she was seeing a floating carp. I quickly stepped in front of Echopaw as he gave a muffled 'hey!'. I dropped the frog and minnow, flipped around to face Echopaw, took my carp, and laid it at Greypool's feet.

"Save some for the others," I briskly said, and swept out, Echopaw on my tail, looking confused.

Greypool called back to me, and told Echopaw to wait outside. She turned to face her den mates, making sure they were still slumbering, and stared at me with piercing eyes.

"There's something going on with you," she hissed. "Always rambling on about your dead friend. You're stirring up unwanted memories, so let it go. Let it go. Before someone makes you."

The harshness suddenly faded from her eyes, and she collapsed in a pile on her nest. "I'll save some for the others," she muttered, and slumped down, her nose burrowing into the dirt.

Me:... Wow... This turned out really long, by my chapter standards.

Rawr: A page and a half!

Me: And to Warriorsfan12, Rawr's having a OC meeting... I might be able to kidnap a second...

Rawr: What?!

Me: Nothing!

Quote of the chapter: when life gives you lemons, throw them back at life and demand BIGGER lemons.


	5. Chapter 5

**This ain't no ordinary disclaimer: Me don't own Warriors. Or this plot. Thanks, Kira…**

**Me: I'm so, so sorry for not updating for, like, ever…**

**Rawr: World's worst updater, right there! ^**

**Me: HEY!**

**Rawr: It's true…**

**Me: Fine... Anyways, I wasn't going to update, but to stop anyone from trying to hunt me down… I created this…. Very something of a chapter.**

**Rawr: It's just a bunch of memories of Ashpaw's.**

"_Hey, Echokit!" I called happily across the clearing as my best friend dragged himself out of the nursery. _

_He glared at me, sulking in the shadows towards where I was standing. _

"_You woke me up," he growled._

"_You could have not come out," I retorted. _

"_Fine."_

"_Fine."_

_Suddenly, he brightened. "You wanna go find Beetlekit and Snowkit and play warriors?"_

"_Yeah!"_

"_I'll find Snowkit!" He called._

"_I guess I'll go find Beetlekit…" I grumbled. _

_Not in any hurry to find the grumpy kit, I padded as slowly as possible to where Beetlekit was tossing a moss ball dejectedly in the air, over and over and over. As he saw me approach, he tried to look bored, as if it didn't matter to him if I asked him to play or not, but I wasn't fooled. He wanted to play Warriors just as much as I did. _

_Beetlekit stopped me before I could ask him anything. _

"_Let me guess- you want me to join you and your little group of friends, play Warriors, and then go try to shadow a patrol…"_

_Well, then. If he wanted to act like that, I would, too. _

"_Yeah. I mean, it's kinda obvious that you don't really want to play, since you're by yourself playing Moss-Ball," I shot back at him. Even though no one really liked Beetlekit's attitude, he was great at playing games. _

_Beetlekit lazily stood up. "Fine. I mean, since you want me to play so badly and all, I guess I could do that instead," He drawled. _

_Shaking himself off, the four-moon-old kit loped across the clearing, sending up little puffs of dust wherever he stepped. _

_Sighing, I raced after him. Now, we needed to go find Frostkit…_

_I spotted her on the other side of the clearing, stalking a butterfly. Not caring about her prey, I dashed over and sent the blue-and-yellow butterfly jerkily flapping away as fast as its wings could carry it. _

"_HEY!" Frostkit shouted, fluffing her silvery pelt out. At almost-three moons old, my sister loads smaller than me, and was aspiring to become a medicine cat, even though she had a terribly hard time remembering the names of the herbs she would help Brambleberry sort. _

_I purred at her annoyance. "We're gonna play Warriors. You wanna play?" _

_All traces of anger gone, she nodded quickly and dashed over to where the other three were waiting._

"_I'm Crookedstar!" Echokit announced. _

"_I'm Mudclaw!" Snowkit called. We all stared at her. "What?" she said. "In our game, I'm Mudclaw, no questions asked."_

_I shrugged, knowing there was no changing her mind. _

_Beetlekit fluffed his pelt out to its full size. "I'm the leader of WindClan. I'm gonna steal all your prey!" He growled. _

_I fluffed up my fur as well, and stood a few mouse-lengths behind Beetlekit. "I'm Beetlestar's deputy," I growled. _

_Frostkit looked conflicted. "Uh… I guess I'm with Echokit…" She said unsteadily. _

_Echokit cuffed her on the head. "I'm CROOKEDSTAR, you mouse-brain!" He said. We all stared at him._

"_What?" He said defensively. "I can use ThunderClan insults if I want."_

_He had a point. He had every right to…_

_Anyways. _

_Beetlekit drew an unsteady line in the dirt with one claw. He shoved me onto our side, and Echopaw and his gang stepped back onto theirs. _

"_Ok," He said, "You know the rules. Me and Ashkit are gonna try and get over your border, and run back to the fresh-kill pile. If we get there, we win. You guys have to try and keep us away. Ready- GO!"_

_I took a flying leap towards my best friend, and he rolled away just in time, making me hit the ground with a thump. He then jumped on top of me with a yowl, and I was in no position to get away, awkwardly sprawled out the way I was. _

_As Echokit landed, knocking all the air out of me, he grabbed me under the belly and rolled over, giving me a fair chance to get back up again. That's just who he was- always trying to look out for his friends. _

_I, though, considered this a battle and had no intentions of doing such things. I launched myself at him again, and this time tackled him. Looking down, I watched him get the light in his eyes that meant I knew he was about to put up a fight. _

_But instead of trying to throw me off, he went slack under me, and I instinctively loosened my grip. He took this opportunity to throw me off, and proceeded to back me up until I was on my side of the border. _

_Looking down, I noticed the scuffed-up lines under my paws._

_Oh, no. He would NOT beat me. _

_This time, though, when I threw myself at him, he rolled out of the way once more, and as I skillfully landed, I tried to stifle a purr. He had fallen right into my trap, done exactly what I expected him to do. Without giving him time to realize what was happening, I dashed for the fresh-kill pile. _

_Frostkit was guarding it. _

_I actually did purr this time as I knowcked her out of the way and got to the pile that they were trying to guard. _

_Beetlekit saw this, and abandoning where he was tussling with his sister, he started to run, faster than I had ever seen him run. _

_Both he and I yowled triumphantly as I touched the pile delicately with one claw, as if mocking our friends. _

"_OH, YEAH!" He shouted. "WE WIN!" _

**Me: so, actually, we were going to have, like, five or six different memories, but instead I created this fluff chapter. **

**Rawr: And originally, Echokit's team was going to win. **

**Me: But Beetlekit was a butt and shoved his way to the front of my brain, where he demanded that he win. **

**Rawr: We gave him what he wanted. **


End file.
